Pre-departure madness (or lack there of)

I am currently in the process of preparing for my trip to Budapest. Over the years, as most of you know, I have done a decent amount of traveling. I have been looking back on past trips and I laugh at some of the things I did when preparing/packing for those trips. The first time I ever left the country was to travel to South Africa with FVS for ten days. Before we left, we had several meetings to prepare for the trip and at one of those meetings they told us that it was a common misconception that South Africa was always hot but we should know that it does snow there. When I started packing I thought of this and thought to myself, "I better take some warm clothes if it is going to be cold." Well, what I didn't think to do was check the weather for the time I was going. I showed up with a bunch of long-sleeved shirts and jeans and only a couple of T-shirts. Well, it was hot! I had an un-necessarily large amount of clothes and barely any that I could actually wear.

The first time I traveled to Costa Rica, also with FVS, I brought a ton of clothes and other things I really didn't need and/or use. I think my bag was by far the biggest of the group, the guys could barely lift it to the top of the van (I could barely lift it at all).

I have improved since then, and now strictly follow the rule that you should only bring what you can carry. However, right now I am in the process of going through the huge pile of clothes I have sitting in the middle of my room to try and cut out items I don't need. Part of the problem I am having is that I have no idea what is acceptable work attire in Hungary. I have read that it is hot and humid there, which provides a challenge in itself considering Colorado is not really either of those.

Anyway, I fly out on May 23 and will be in Budapest by the evening of the 24th (time changes and long flights make for a long travel day!) I am still waiting to hear about my housing and other details, but I am sure it will all work out...or provide for a little adventure in itself.